Take a break!!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Just few minutes ago, I finished a conversation with one of my friends presently living in one of the Metros of India, and got kind of forced to write this. I had this inside myself for a pretty long time but never felt that urge to let the rest of the world know about it. Here you go :

I was born sometime in mid 70’s in the city of Calcutta, once the capital of undivided India and the so called cultural hub of the country. The socio-economic and political scenario of the city was passing through a phase of transition. A new political party was about to take over the governance in the state of West Bengal. I grew up as a legitimate citizen of Calcutta and was fortunate enough to receive decent education from one of the reputed institutions of the city. Childhood in the 80’s never really allowed a child to become at all conscious about a lifestyle, difference between basic necessities and comforts, steep competition, complex relationships, kick-start to career race and so on. Life was not a deal then, unlike today. A couple of generations emerged, prevailed and moved forward in respective lives. The city, however, stayed as it was.

The process started slowly, sometime in between the period of late 80’s and early 90’s. I began to see few people around me leaving the city for higher studies or job. By the time I completed my Graduation sometime around ’96-97, the process gained a real good momentum. It ruled for the next 5-6 years and the parts of the couple of generations got scattered in different parts of the world. Needless to say, lot of my friends, relatives, ex-colleagues and known people lives out of this city today, and they all are settled happily.

Excuse me, not a single person I know was/is happy. The reasons varied/varies but the fact remained/remains the same.

Our friends who said “Good bye” to Calcutta had good enough reasons to leave. They had either uncertain futures here or much better opportunities elsewhere. Whatever were the reasons, I heard almost all of them cursing and abusing this city before their departures.

Then came the second phase when our friends were settled down for about 6 months in the new cities. They started sending stinkers to people back in Calcutta in the form of appreciation of the city they were living in, and hatred for Calcutta. Though they all managed to come down to Calcutta during the Durga Puja/Diwali and other festive occasions to accumulate all the fun, which were eventually not available at their places of work, for obvious reasons.

The third phase arrived after a couple of years when they started missing Calcutta for reasons like delicious food, endless chat sessions with friends & families, celebration parties, cinemas and theatres and so on. I guess, they were all missing their lives.

I feel genuinely happy today to see all of them doing well and happily spending their lives with/without families, in Facebook pages. They get linked through the chat windows, mails or occasional phone calls. Their short visits to their hometown enables me and others who are living in Calcutta, to meet them and recall the funs of the past. I find excruciating pain in their eyes which they can’t hide, whenever they are about to leave the city after each holiday gets over. I try and understand the agony.

Till the above, things were fine and normal. I was on my visit to my FB page when one of my friends pinged me

Hey, how much is Hilsa in Kolkata?

Ranging between 350 to 650….I answered

Cool man. You people are so lucky. It’s 1200 here. And how much is Mango?

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

It was the last day of the year 1984 when I saw that tall and lean young man for the very first time on my very first visit to the Mecca of modern cricket. Mohd. Azharuddin was playing his debut test series against the English team at Eden Gardens, Calcutta. Needless to say, when he ended the series with centuries in three consecutive test matches, he became my big time childhood cricket hero. I do not remember much of that test match except him and his 110 runs. A 9 years old kid started off with the addiction of Cricket officially, on 31st December, 1984.

1987

The Reliance World Cup of 1987 was the next best memory when India came very close to defend their Championship until Graham Gooch swept their dreams away in the Semis. The brilliant knock of 64 from Mohd. Azharuddin went in vain when Kapil Dev decided to throw his wicket just when he was supposed to build his innings after a phenomenal start of 30 runs from mere 22 balls. I still strongly believe that Azhar’s LBW decision by an Australian umpire was a disgrace in the history of Umpiring. These statistics remains and will remain with me till the day I die. I do remember of donating my ticket of the final match between Australia & England, which was played at Eden Gardens Calcutta.

1992

It still irritates me when I recall the summer of 1992 when it was cricket all over in Australia & New Zealand and I was engaged with my preparations of the Board Exams. India’s performance though was disgusting but a little boy wonder was stealing a big chunk of attention among the big names. I was happy to see my hero captaining the squad which included big names like Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Krishnamachary Srikaanth and so on. I somehow managed to watch the semi finals and the final where whole lot of my favorite Cricketers like Ian Botham, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Moin Khan, Martin Crowe etc.were at their best.

1996

1,20,000 people roared to the best of their abilities, when Sri Lanka was two wickets down for 1 run in the very first over of the 1st Semis at Eden Gardens on 13th March 1996. The sigh of relief of seeing the back of the devastating Jayasurya faded fast when a craftsman called Mad Max opened his arsenal of copybook cricket strokes. The quick fire 66 from 47 balls made all the difference between the Indian Team and the world cup trophy. The world silently witnessed a formidable squad of 11 warriors who raised their cricket to the highest possible level and won the crown after a convincing win at Lahore against the aussies. The hard work of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar though, can never be forgotten. The sheer agony and irritation of the spectators exploded in the form of violence and the match was abandoned on the 35th over. A sad end indeed.

1999

Ever since the super debut of Maharaj at Lords in 1996, the global cricket followers were eager to see him in his first World Cup venture. He opened his account with a smart 97 but was not of much use since India lost to RSA. He soon followed with an epic inning of 183 which tore apart the Lankans at Taunton. Rahul Dravid’s 145 with a strike rate of more than 100, even, looked placid beside the fireworks of the Prince of Calcutta. A historical century of Sachin just after his father’s sad demise was the only other memorable event in that world cup for India. The sheer brilliance of Australia’s total cricket helped them pick the second grand slam of cricket, easily against the scattered challenge of Pakistan in the final.

2003

The world cricket fraternity never ever came across a more brilliant, dominant, aggressive and determined Indian Captain in any of the World cups played till date. The disgraceful defeat against the Aussies in the first round was a good enough lesson that was required for the team to turn around. Dada put things together with ease and the team was unbeaten till the final match. Everything went well in that world Cup for India, except the defeat in the final. Sachin milked most of the bowlers around through all the matches he played except the mega final. Though India lost the gold, they truly established themselves as a formidable force and the second best in World Cricket.

2007

2007 started off with the disgrace of losing against Bangladesh. The defeat resulted India crashing off from the world cup before the knock outs. Undoubtedly, the worst performance of India in the World Cups, considering the team combination and availability of resources. Rahul Dravid looked the most confused man in the world and was all over the places with his captaincy. Not a world cup Indians will want to remember.

Being a serious follower of this game for the past 27 years, I consider myself to be still somebody caught in the adolescence, as far as the love and affection towards this sport is concerned. I also consider myself to be fortunate enough to see cricketers like Vivian Richards, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohd. Azharuddin, Wasim Akram, Javed Miandad, Curtley Ambrose, Sachin Tendulkar, Mark Waugh, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Brian Lara, Anil Kumble, Aravinda De Silva, Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Saurav Ganguly, Virendra Sehwag etc. LIVE at Eden Gardens. World Cup cricket still brings the same old romance of 50 over format which may have lost it’s glory in the age of Twenty20s. People needs popcorn thrills nowadays and they are reluctant to wait for 7 hours to see a winner. I guess those people hided their faces after the nail biter of Sunday the 27th Feb.

What could possibly be the best sight ever in the history of cricket ? Sachin Tendulkar lifting the World Cup at Wankhede Stadium Mumbai on 2nd of April 2011. No better tribute can ever be given to that warrior who made the nation eat, sleep & live cricket for 21 years. I dream and visualize the scene Mahi, do you???

Go bring the glory….. billions are praying for you all…… best wishes……

Monday, September 6, 2010

Hi. Welcome once again. This time I really need your help. I am experiencing a dilemma inside, which requires to be sorted. Eventually, I have some ideas within myself and will be acquiring the rest from your views, in order to give it a shape.

We are different from each other as humans. Our characteristics, thought process, preferences, priorities, inclinations differ to make an individual a specimen of the mammal species. This is something so unique to think about, especially when we imagine the global human population. How can a substantially tiny place called earth, possibly manage to hold on to it’s so called best creation named human, in such innumerable types in this system of sun? Well, the analysis is in process for the last 1500 years and hence we need not sweat and apply deodorant every now and then.

Friends, pick up your respective scalpels and get ready for a post mortem. If I say this world is hanging on to a single word called “Compromise”, how many of you will agree? Wow, I just love this state if indecision. Well, I am sure that majority of you will agree to disagree. Even better, I have a lust for conflicts. I will make sure to establish my views and keep myself flexible and open to your views. I may even start believing in yours, if you succeed to convince me. Let us play.

We are all engaged in a superlative movement called living. Apart from the basic needs of clothes, food and shelter we all require few other facilities to live our daily lives. The necessities which money can’t buy and our eyes can’t see. Here, I refer to happiness and peace which can only be felt and can’t be supplied. Both of them reside within ourselves in a place called “Mind”. They generally emerge and submerge with one another, as and when we place a request call. They are the invisible milestones which we are capable of surpassing whenever we feel like. Often we give up the chase and they are gone in a flash. Let us get into the amusement now. Who the hell is this “We”?

“We” here denotes our “Minds”. Mind has got nothing to do with our structural “We”, since “We” without our “Minds” are not “We” at all. The rest is just a geometrical configuration of bones and bloody flesh. Hence, from today we all should ask “How is your mind?” instead of “How are you?” Practice will make you perfect soon.

We have all grown up with some preset ideas of being happy. The century old strategies of staying and being together in big fat joint families have flown through the Grand Canyon long ago. Those were the days when happiness was a way of life and not an unforeseen guest as it is today. Today we rather need to achieve and earn it and seldom it gets stored for future use. Why is this change of attire, when it’s the same “We” i.e. the mind that we were born with? Is this change a continuous process controlled by time? My answer is NO. This is where “Compromise” evolves. We all tend to forget the simpler ways of being happy and start to put in our efforts to achieve it. By this we actually compromise with our actual requirements.

The solution to this complication is there within each of us. It is indeed a little lengthy process but worth a try if the effect is considered. Let us go for it.

Mind loves to rule. It tells us when to get upset and when to float in sheer joy. It’s darker side makes us not to wake up on time, eat more, work less, booze beyond the limits, criticize others, complacent, super lazy, self-centered and so on. The brighter makes us do/be just the reverse. We obey the orders as slaves do. Wait a minute. Who’s this “We” I mean now? I just said that “We” do not exist without our Mind. If it is so, what’s the harm in letting the Mind master us? Amused? I will challenge myself here. I now believe that “We” exist without our respective minds. I refuse to “Compromise” for some time. Let me try and rule my mind instead.

There are some ancient devices available and vastly used to rule the mind. Yoga is the most successful of all. I do also have my own invented method of ruling my mind. Trust me, my success rate till date is close to a whopping 70%. The mantra which I follow is very simple and straight. It is easy to understand and believe. The reason I fail 3 times out of every ten attempts is not being able to stick to the mantra for long. Want to know it? Just scroll down.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Hello once again. I hope you all have somehow managed to digest my first post. I would like to thank all of you who read and commented online/offline.

I would like to dedicate this post to all my super greedy friends who "live to eat" and not "eat to live". This is also a tribute to the entire “live to eat” fraternity who are putting their constant effort to eradicate the global food supply. People who are engaged with the noble civil war with their respective digestive systems across several generations and centuries. Guess who gave them the power to combat all obstacles in the path of achieving excellence in invasion. A tiny warrior called Antacid. A light year old phenomena which still holds the victory flag high. Victory against the devils named gas-ombol-gola-buk jaala-pet byatha-bomi-bomi bhaab etc. regionally and indigestion, globally.

The ever-increasing desire to eat takes off from the first taste of tongue. I remember that I read somewhere that the taste buds of greedy people blooms much quicker than others and remains healthier with the increase of greed, in comparison to others. The consequence of over consumption (a basic common complication seen in greedy Indians) generally varies from person to person. The Antacid hence comes in different shapes, sizes and are applied according to the damage creating ability of the devil.

Eating I guess is nothing but a master festival. The festivals which we celebrate throughout the year actually revolves around the master. Imagine how puny will be a Durgapuja without the Khichri and Pulaw bhog, Deepawali without Laddoos & other delicious sweets, Ramzan without Halim, Id without Biryani and Sewai, Christmas without the Cake and cookie and so on. Even the best part of Karwa Chauth starts with it’s end, when a long fast gets broken with sumptuous food. So friends, eat tight and leave the worries to Antacid.

FYI, Durgapujo is just 60 days away from us. Hence, apart from the traditional annual shopping plans, strategize your eating plans as well. You may refer to a brilliantly made sample plan for the days of the festival, provided you are stationed in Kolkata or adjoining areas during the pujas :

Apart from indigestion, an Antacid may prevent you from loads of other complications and digest the unexpected agonies such as :

a. an obnoxious boss

b. a forthcoming film of Ram Gopal Verma

c. Sunny Deol, again in an Advocate’s role

d. Rendezvous with Rakhi Saawant

e. Usha Utthup etc.

Friends, as a proud member of the “live to eat” fraternity I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a great festive season ahead. “Eat and let eat” should be the oath of a civilized society at all times. Remember to keep your Antacid with you.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Hello world. I welcome you all to the most unimaginably unorganized, unsettled, unprecedented web page you may have ever clicked. For me, writing is that luxury which I can only think of achieving and consistently fail. It is just like the first class 180 degrees flat bed, for all economy class passengers in one of the swanky airliners. Or may be a Porsche zooming past a bank installed Hyundai Santro owner. Nevertheless, considering the fact that there’s always a first time, please excuse the agony. Take a break!!

When I was in school till the 4th standard, the word break to me used to relate only with Tiffin box and a chance to run, play and have fun for an hour. It was more like a mandate and less of an offering, since then I was not intelligent enough to understand the relevance of it. Hence, it was just like another period when I was allowed to do almost anything without any external interruption. From fifth we had to stay back at school for an additional period. Then we used to have a break of 15 minutes between the 5th and the 6th period, apart from the normal recess. Surprisingly, the meaning of the word break started to change for me ever since I began to enjoy those 15 minutes to the fullest. I am somehow still hanging on to the same mindset of the mid 80’s. Break to me is nothing but a brief escape of you from yourself. The freedom to set yourself free from your identity and shift to a switched off mode. On a broader sense, it is an attempt to erase the bitter patches of yesterday and today and to approach the greener pastures of tomorrow.

The concept though of taking a break has traveled through generations. The days of the long family vacations are long lost and have been replaced by short and slim weekend getaways. The motive of taking a break thankfully is still to have unlimited fun with family, friends and relatives. The concept of traveling alone though is on dire straits. By now, you all must be thinking exactly what I am trying to give emphasis on. That is how pathetic I am who don’t even know where to start and when to take a turn. However, your nightmare is just about to enter the climax. Hang on, take a break!!

Taking a break and traveling to me is more of a need than passion or obsession. The liberty to break the fetters of norms and regulations and surrender to the whims and fancies of the inner self. Often I recall those teenage trips with friends where there used to be only fun and joy of experiencing the new. The first bottle of beer, reminds me of the overwhelming excitement I have been through. I wonder why I couldn’t reach that same level of pure fun ever, after I crossed my teenage. Is age the culprit in disguise? My inner me bets to differ. I strongly believe that the reason is myself. Either I have forgotten to escape or the escape routes are lost.

Somehow, I feel that the reason for taking a break today is just to escape from stress and not to have only fun. Most of us take a break to refuel ourselves but not to reframe anymore. We prefer to choose the comfort of a stylish air conditioned suite over a shabby room in a little remotely located resort with a breathtaking view of the mountain ranges. If I ask you when was the last time you took a long walk in the clouds on a misty cold winter morning in Ooty, Manali or Darjeeling, most of you will fail to recall. If I ask you how many of you have seen Taj Mahal ? I am sure at least 90% of you will raise your hands and say I did. I will change the question a bit now. How many of you have experienced Taj Mahal? 30% of you will scratch your head, 40% will be highly confused and the rest of 20% may still raise their hands without understanding the meaning of the question. Taj Mahal will always stay in Agra and will remain open to the global tourists at all times. We can see it and get mesmerized. How can it be experienced? Well, have you ever thought of watching Taj Mahal for hours on a full moon night, holding the hand of your partner? Sounds different? You may give it a try.

All I want to say is take a break!! as it is supposed to be taken and not just for the sake of taking it. Leave your worries and complications at home and workplace and do not pack them along. Go to new places or revisit the old, doesn’t really make much of a difference. Do not even lose a single moment of pleasure. The pleasure of a new experience at all times. Let your soul rest in peace, even when you are alive…… Take a break!!